Pricing and quotation information is produced at different points and different geographic locations in the sales process. Some of the key triggers used to produce this information include product sales, volume discounts, warranty terms, sales/lease contract terms, contract renewals or modifications, or special customer requests. Often times, quotations or quotes produced as a result of these triggers vary substantially based on the business unit or geographic location for which a particular quote is targeted. These variations are also caused by the different computer platforms, systems, usage models and networks used to assemble the quote information. Variations can also be caused by lack of, or differing, in-depth knowledge of the specific business rules and discounts that apply to each scenario, location, and business unit. In some cases, duplicate and redundant information must be reformatted or translated to a form compatible with a component of the quote generation system. In other cases, information must be manually entered. This is due in large part to the rigid data input requirements of conventional quote configuration systems.
The limitations in current quote configuration systems result in quotes that are difficult to generate and maintain, which contain errors that impact the customer and the business units, and require manual entry of redundant information at each step of the process.
Thus, a platform-independent, usage-independent, location-independent quote configuration systems which is capable of encapsulating the business logic and business unit expertise to produce consistent, accurate results is needed.